German utility model DE202006007784U1 teaches providing an additional loading floor in a luggage compartment. The additional loading floor is movable between a lowered position and a raised position and is constrained to the bottom floor of the luggage compartment by levers. When the loading floor is in the lowered position, these levers are housed in a longitudinal slot made in a front portion of the loading floor. The levers have a first end, hinged to the bottom floor about a first horizontal axis, and a second end, which is opposite to the first and is guided by the slot so that it slides in a longitudinal direction when the loading floor is raised and is then manually pulled backwards, towards the outside of the luggage compartment.
When the second end of the levers comes out from the slot, the loading floor can rotate with respect to the levers about a second horizontal axis parallel to the first and then be placed in the raised position. In particular, elastic elements are provided to push the second end of the levers outside of the slot and thus facilitate the manoeuvres of raising the loading floor.
When the loading floor is placed in its raised position, the weight of the luggage is discharged onto the levers and a cross-beam provided at the rear end of the loading floor, i.e. at the entry sill of the luggage compartment.
This solution is not very satisfactory because the levers substantially perform the function of struts to support the weight when the loading floor is placed in its raised position. Due to vibrations when the vehicle is driven, the stresses acting on the hinges and on the guide defined by the slot tend to cause wear, with the consequent generation of excess play, noise and malfunctioning of the load-floor positioning manoeuvres.
In addition, always when the loading floor is placed in its raised position, if the loading floor is used like a hatch, or rather it is opened to gain access to the underlying space, the angular position of the levers becomes unstable.